Lopico version 4 (that’s right 4… Though only 3 ever made it live) is well under way. The site has been down for nearly a year, and while I had reasons to take it down, it’s time to bring it back. With version 4, I am starting with the last part I worked on in version 2 (the last version to see the light) – the user pages. Users are essential to lopico, but the user area was given little attention in the previous version.

The thinking in the previous version was that people weren’t coming to the site for that type of information. Users came to the site to see business listings and see reviews. Well, that’s true and I don’t expect user profiles to be more popular than main site content, but it’s also true that ignoring user experience is a good way to turn users off. It’s also true that low traffic to user profiles was, at least partially, due to my lack of focus on this section.

So what will be different? Well, I am rethinking the entire user experience. Rethinking how users interact and want to interact with businesses and with one another. The next lopico is going to be more about local than local business and it’s going to be more about interactions with local people and businesses. There’s also going to be an increased emphasis on users ability to interact with and retrieve data from more than one place.

There’s a lot of work left to do, but that’s part of the fun. I’m starting at the end and thinking more about users throughout the development process. I’ll also be striving to give readers of this blog a more open and honest look at what goes on behind the scenes of lopico.